第6章 軍事用ロボットの各種契約など

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Product Code: SH25540949

Military ground robot market growth comes from the device marketing experts
inventing a new role as technology poised to be effective at the forefront of
fighting terrorism. Markets at $4.5 billion in 2013 reach $12.0 billion by
2019. Growth is based on the adoption of automated process by military
organizations worldwide.This automated process implemented as a combination of
software for innovation and robotic platforms is not the traditional military
system.

They are systems of engagement that have arms and sensors, tracks and wheels,
motors and solid state batteries. These systems of engagement support
leveraging smart phones and mobile platforms. The aim is to achieve a broader,
more intelligent military presence in every area of the globe.

In the last decade, the U.S. military poured money into unmanned ground
systems to help protect troops against improvised explosive devices. There is
the issue that the Defense Department needs to repurpose all those robots once
the war in Afghanistan comes to a close. The wider market for military ground
robots will develop as a mechanism to fight terrorism in response to the
bombings in Boston and elsewhere. Bombing of civilians is a very serious
matter and needs to be addressed with mobile platforms that prevent terrorist
acts.

While the Army's committed to unmanned ground systems, appears to be slowing,
this commitment is anticipated to heat up again quickly. The investment
priorities are anticipated to change as the Defense Department realizes that
investments in ground robots are needed to fight terrorism everywhere.

Just as troops leave Afghanistan, so also the robots that worked alongside
them leave. The difference is that the robots are finding new uses as mobile
security platforms that protect against the loss of human life The Army plans
to upgrade 2,700 of its existing military robot systems for use in training or
further deployments.

Another 2,469 will be divested and given to Defense Department partners or
other government agencies. The U.S. military's spending on UGVs appears as
though it might decrease according to the words coming out of the defense
department, but as Congress assesses the damage from the Boston bombing, it
will become apparent that there is only one choice for fighting terrorists
efficiently and that is through the use of military ground robotic platforms
that function as mobile systems of engagement.

Military ground robot market shares and market forecast analysis considers
that military ground robots have a vast new market based on their ability to
protect human life in the event of terrorist attack. This was proved virtually
in the recent Boston terrorist attack when one of the Watertown police
officers pulled the emergency brake on a police vehicle and rolled it up next
to the terrorists in the stolen SUV Mercedes. Without actually being in the
car, the local police officers were able to spook both terrorists by making
them think they were being directly flanked.

The terrorists thought the vehicle really had police offices in it and shot
toward it and detonated bombs in the rogue vehicle. The virtual robot vehicle
did its job of protecting the lives of the Watertown police officers and of
catching the bad guys.

Both terrorists were captured using robots, the robot car (actually a real car
that was pushed into a bad situation as a robot would be, thus simulating a
robot) and the robots that were used in the boat where the other terrorist was
hiding to inspect the situation had a direct role in capturing the terrorists.
Thus the Boston bombing illustrates a whole new use for military robots in
terrorist situations.

In this manner, robot vehicles are sure to be used to fight terrorism going
forward. It should be noted that though all the resources of the federal
government and state government were directed toward solving the crime, that
it was the very local group of police, the Watertown police department who did
much of the work.

It was the local Watertown police department members who were engaged in a
firefight with terrorists and who had to think on their feet to capture the
bad guys and do it without getting killed themselves or endangering other
civilians.

It is to the credit of the local police department that they were able to do
this and it is noteworthy that they did use military robots in the endeavor
and the police vehicle that doubled as a military robot presages more use of
military style robots by local police departments.

The defense industry is entering a new era. Military robotics are poised to
play a significant role in achieving change in security delivery. With
battlefield engagements winding down, terrorism has emerged as a constant and
current threat. The recent terrorist bombings in Boston and other cities
worldwide illustrate that threat. Military robots are the best practice
technology for dealing with terrorists in many cases.